Ruffle curtain



Jan. 17 395$ F. s. NICHOLS 2,494,668

RUFFLE CURTAIN Filed Feb. 15', 1947 Patented Jan. 17, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RUFFLE CURTAIN Frederick S. Nichols, Melrose, Mass. Application February 15, 1947, Serial No. 728,895

2 Claims.

This invention relates to curtains, and particularly reversible ruliied curtains. The present invention is a continuation in part of my Patent No. 2,472,956, dated June 14, 1949.

Curtain ruflles, and wide curtain ruifles in particular, tend to droop or fall uncontrollably and present an unsightly appearance. Their tendency to droop at the sides of the curtain usually makes it necessary to use more material in the body of the curtain. Another loss of material occurs at the top of the ordinary curtain because the top of the body portions has a sheath for the curtain rod, and the top rufiies lie below the level of this sheath. The ordinary construction heretofore used also interferes with the use of curtains in more than one position, so that the curtain does not have as long a life as it would if frequently reversed.

The curtain of my invention is provided with ruffles which will retain their desired shape, and is capable of being turned end-for-end without the lowermost end at any time having the appearance of a reversible curtain, i. e. without looking as though it were hung upside-down.

The ruilie of the curtain of my invention is reinforced. The pleats of the ruffle are interengaged with pleats of a reinforcement band and the interengaged pleats are secured to the curtain by stitching in such manner that the ruflle and reinforcing band are held in more or less loose interengagement for some distance from the stitches. The engaged portions reinforce the rest of the ruiile, which retains the shape imparted to it. The reinforced section of the rufile is also slotted to form a curtain rod sheath, so that a curtain rod may be passed directly through the ruffle itself.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary viewof a curtain embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2--2 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, the curtain body I is stitched with double rows of thread l2 to ruflie I4 having a skirt I6 and head l8 on opposite sides of the stitching l2. The material of the ruflie is pleated at the lines of stitching (Fig. 3). The skirt I6 is wider than the head [8, and is reinforced by a band 20 which isalso pleated, so that the pleats are interengaged. They are tightly engaged at the lines of stitching, and loosely engaged for some distance into the skirt portion I 6, unless subsequently separated.

In Fig. 2, ruflle I4 and band 20 are preferably made from a single piece of material, band 20 being formed by folding back part of the material of the rufile. But whether made from a single piece of material or from separate pieces, the band 20 is sewed to the skirt l6 by stitching 32. Between stitching I2 and stitching 32, at each of the four corners of the curtain, I make slits 34 which enable a curtain-rod to be passed through from one side of the curtain to the other in the space formed between the band 20 and skirt IS.

The initial pleating and interengagement of band 20 and skirt l6 along the stitching l2, when no curtain rod is placed between them, will cause mutual inter-folding outwardly toward stitching 32 and will enable the flaring skirt to stay in place. The inter-folding also makes the combined band and skirt portions blend to obscure the passage for the curtain rod. Thus when the curtain is hung, the bottom does not appear to have a sheath formed in it. When a curtain rod is placed in the sheath or space between band 20 and skirt IS, the mutually interfolded portions of the curtain tend to restrict the passage, and so the material hugs closely about the curtain rod. Each fold provides resistance, and tends also to continue over and about the rod to stiffen the rufiled portion standing above it.

The improved curtain of the invention requires less material, since the ruflle stands out and so a given window requires less curtain material for the body portion. Less body-forming material is required, also, because the body portion does not need to be folded over at the ends to provide curtain rod sheaths or passages. Further, the curtain rod is obscured by the pleated ruffie, and does not show nearly as much, while absence of the rod, at the end temporarily serving as the bottom of the curtain, allows the loose pleating to continue uninterrupted through the reinforced portion and conceal the presence of a passage through the material. The bottom of the curtain, in consequence, never appears as though designed for use only at the top. The reinforcement band itself does not appear to the eye as a reinforcement, but rather lends the ruffle a twotone effect, as though the meshes were more closely spaced.

I claim:

1. A curtain comprising, in combination, a body portion, a ruflle skirt secured to said body portion, a reinforcing rufile band of pleated material interengaged with pleats in said ruiile skirt, and slits in said reinforcing band to form a curtain rod sheath between said band and said skirt.

2,494,668 52.9 1. 3 4 2. A curtain comprising, in combination, a body portion, a ruflle skirt, a. reinforcing rufile UNITED STATES PATENTS band, and slits formed at the corners of said Number Name Date rufile skirt to form a sheath for a curtain rod be- 1,627,543 Loeb May 3, 1927 tween a folded portion of said reinforcing band 5 2,246,197 Wright June 17, 1941 and a. folded portion of said ruffle skirt. 2,256,992 Stam Sept. 23, 1941 FREDERICK S. NICHOLS. 2, 16, 48 Lepow Feb. 25, 1947 2,472,956 Nichols June 14, 1949 REFERENCES OIT ED The following references are of record the 10 file of this patent: 

